Palestinian Authority rejects Netanyahu's call for direct talks
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Tuesday dismissed an Israeli proposal for direct
negotiations instead of a French multilateral peace initiative, calling it an attempt to "buy time".
Hamdallah made the comments as he met French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has held talks in Israel and the Palestinian Authority this week to push Paris's upcoming peace initiative.
"Time is short," Hamdallah said. "Netanyahu is trying to buy time... but this time he will not escape the international community."
Netanyahu has rejected the plan and called for direct negotiations.
Valls told Netanyahu when he met him on Monday that he would discuss his proposal with French President Francois Hollande, but he has insisted that Paris plans to stick with its approach.
The French initiative involves holding a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries on June 3, but without the Israelis and or representatives of the Palestinian Authority present.
An international conference would then be held in the autumn, with negotiating teams from Israel and the Palestinian Authority in attendance. The goal is to eventually relaunch negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state.
Negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
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"Time is short," Hamdallah said. "Netanyahu is trying to buy time... but this time he will not escape the international community."
Couple of thoughts on Hamdallah's comment:
"Netanyahu is trying to buy time" - this is a statement that has been used by the Palestinians vis a vis negotiations for quite some time. The first time it was used, it regarded issues between Begin and Sadat. It was "Israel's last chance to make peace with the Arab world" at the time. Since then, Israel has made peace with Egypt, Jordan and a number of other nations, although there are no signed treaties.
"He will not escape the international community" - my coffee went up my nose on this one. For the sake of clarity, let us all be reminded that the only way this conflict is going to end is through direct negotiations. The Palestinians can gain all of the backdoor recognition they want, but there will be no forced solution on Israel. UN Resolution 242 calls for direct negotiations. Logic calls for direct negotiations.
The Palestinians have been ducking direct negotiations for nearly 40 years, while blaming Israel for not wanting to negotiate with them.
Same story, different day......
Spot on, FLY.
Anyone who wants to sincerely work on middle east peace should work on it.
There is no more direct route to a conclusion than addressing it directly.
Agreed, Jon. Get to the job at hand and get it over with. Only the parties involved, can make the final call.
For decades third party involvement has done nothing to settle this. Why is there more of the same. Oh, forgot the Palies don't want it solved.
They are not anxious to have a state because that is not their stated purpose. If they gain statehood, they would have to change the way they relate to Israel. If you are an actual nation and you perpetrate acts of war, it carries different ramifications.
They are also not desperate because they do not care for, or listen to their people. There is much said about the way Israel (and sometimes Egypt) handles the people in the occupied territories. There is a very quick way to end these constant bouts of conflict and mistreatment and disputations over territory. Direct negotiations address all of this and more. And yet, they reject negotiations while blaming Israel.
They are not anxious to have a state because that is not their stated purpose. If they gain statehood, they would have to change the way they relate to Israel. If you are an actual nation and you perpetrate acts of war, it carries different ramifications.
Yup.
A perpetual state of victimhood, or a nation state of their own; the choice is clearly being made.
The PA has never seriously negotiated, and it never will. They don't want peace. They want the ongoing terrorism and bloodlust that keeps them in power by distracting the sheep they govern.